White dress, bouquet, church, presents, friends and family. First communion is like a wedding day for an 8 year old girl, naturally overwhelming, particularly for Mary who sang a solo in front of the 500 strong congregation. Counterpart rites of passage, with similar emphasis on a child's purity, in other religions include the first haircut. For Hindus the hair represents undersirable traits from past lives and it is ritually shaved. For little girls and their mums in Maria Alm the hair had represented the only possibility for self-expression on this special day since it was decreed that the girls' dresses, which had become ever more immoderate, should be hidden under a simple white cassock, a uniform look to ensure that every child appears as pure and angelic as the next, with the result that the zealousness that had previously focussed upon the dress was redirected to the hair and complex combinations of ringlets, jewels, ribbons and flowers. So the uniform decree this year was extended to include the hair and each girl was given a simple floral crown to wear. Justine missed the ringlets and jewels and is sure that Elizabeth will oblige by demanding them when her turn comes next year.
